Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Whenever I see Mick Jagger performing I cannot help noticing that he runs, jumps comes and goes and never stops. I'm glad to know that he has already done what he did, keeps moving, rocking and rolling and is no longer at the age of being seen as a possible hyperactive child and the drugs he took were those he wanted to have and when he wanted them. Can you imagine what would be the effects of giving Ritalin to this man when he was a teen? Take a look at the video and see how difficult it is for Tina Turner follow Mick around the stage. He keeps teasing her asking her to follow him.I like this song and this is is the rhythm I hope you have at Christmas.

Monday, December 20, 2010

This was at FOX NEWS this year as well as many other tiny little notices here and there at the mainstream media.Still these drugs are being prescribed and physicians claim that they have been saving millions of lives.If antidepressants SSRIs are really helping people good for those who were helped. But I hope that the story of the other millions these drugs have destroyed the lives appear more frequently on the mainstream media.
"The document suggests that a patient taking Paxil is eight times more likely to attempt or commit suicide than patients taking placebo." "At that time GSK vehemently denied that Paxil caused suicide in a statement to Fox News."

"I'm outraged because that kind of statement absolutely put lives at risk and that should not be tolerated."

Ron Goldman

"Essentially it looks like GSK bamboozled the FDA."Oops! I don't think Mr Grassley. I don't think you believe that FDA is not aware of all of that.

Here, here, here and here some examples of FDA helping these drugs being on the market.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I just came across with this clinical trial that should have started last October but, so sad, it didn't. Informed consent might trigger side efffects is the hypothesis they will study until 2013.

If you are not familiar with the concept of nocebo:

"A nocebo (Latin for "I will harm") is something that should be ineffective but which causes symptoms of ill health. A nocebo effect is an ill effect caused by the suggestion or belief that something is harmful. The term 'nocebo' became popular in the 1990s. Prior to that, both pleasant and harmful effects thought to be due to the power of suggestion were usually referred to as being due to the placebo effect.

Because of ethical concerns, nocebos are not commonly used in medical practice or research. Thus, it is not unexpected that the nocebo effect is not well-established in the scientific literature. However, there are some anecdotes and some studies that are commonly appealed to in the literature to support its validity." (here)

This is the clinical trial:

Detailed Description:

"In this study the investigators wish to inquire whether the nature of the explenation given to the patient as part of informed consent has an effect on the prevalence of side-effects. The study will take place in the out-patient clinic at the Shalvata Mental health Center. Three arms are included:

50 patients started on SSRI's will be updated about its common side effects

50 patients started on SSRI's will be updated about its common side effects and will receive an explenation on the nocebo effect

50 patients started on SSRI's will receive an explenation on the nocebo effect, but will not be updated about common side-effects. Nonetheless, they will be informed of severe side-effects.

Following the prescription of an SSRI the subjects will we enter the follow-up phase of the study. They will attend two follow-up meetings: 3 days after the initiation point and one month after the starting point. During each meeting they will be asked to fill the Antidepressant Side-Effect Checklist (ASEC)and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)."

If you were thinking about informed consent for drugs whose side effects are birth defects, suicidal ideation, violent behaviour, impossible withdrawal I believe you will have to wait.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I visited The Carlat Psychiatry blog and came across with this post where you read:

"But when I see a patient in my office, I do just the opposite. I try to maximize the placebo effect. I say things like, "I've had great success with Zoloft in patients like you....I would say you have an 80-90% chance of feeling much better within the next 2 weeks....These drugs are remarkably effective...."

This is from one of the psychiatrists who ís at my blog list and is considered ethical. It seems to me that psychiatry fears stop prescribing these drugs even after all the harms that are already undeniable.

Psychiatry keeps going as if nothing is happening. I don't know what to say. I'm tired and unfortunately nothing I say is considered "evidence". This is sad because I see people getting addicted to clonazepam, a benzodiazepine that is very hard to withdraw, and is being prescribed for any kind of anxiety. They claim "diazepam" doesn't work... they say... they say...Informed consent? "This drug helped so many of my patients!"

Six veterans are suffering from all kinds of ailments tied to this"diabolical and secret testing program," according to a statement from the vets’ lawyers, passed on toSpyTalk’s Jeff Stein.

The experiments allegedly included "the use of troops to test nerve gas, psychochemicals, and thousands of other toxic chemical or biological substances, and … the insertion of septal implants in the brains of subjects in … mind control experiments that went awry, leaving many civilian and military subjects with permanent disabilities." Subjects were tested without their consent, the veterans say. And when the trials were over, the government failed to "provide health care or compensation."

The feds insist that MK-ULTRA ended, when it was exposed duringCongressional hearings. But interest in chemical mind-control lives along, in some corners of the military-intelligence community. In a 2003 memo, then-Justice Department lawyer John C. Yoo suggesting thatinterrogation drugs could be used if their effects were not permanent or profound. Since then, evidence has accumulated that some detainees may have been drugged. "It’s coming back," retired Colonel John Alexander told Sharon."